Rob Oller commentary: Magic now trying to earn NBA assists off the court

Thursday

May 16, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 16, 2013 at 12:55 PM

Magic Johnson's phone does not ring nearly often enough to suit him. He wants to hear from current and former NBA players. He wants to let them know he can help them transition toward life after sports.

Rob Oller, The Columbus Dispatch

Magic Johnson’s phone does not ring nearly often enough to suit him. He wants to hear from current and former NBA players. He wants to let them know he can help them transition toward life after sports.

He wants guys like Allen Iverson to succeed outside their NBA identity, not go flat like a basketball left too long in the yard.

Iverson collected almost $150 million in salary during his career as an All-Star guard with the Philadelphia 76ers, and millions more in endorsements, but a large chunk of that wealth is gone, spent on cars, clothes and other expensive trappings of fame. Iverson’s downfall coincided with his diminished skills on the court. He had no Plan B to fall back on, no competitive outlet to hold his interest.

Iverson is not alone in struggling through the tough adjustment to “real” life, and that pains Johnson. Twenty years removed from his last NBA game, Magic remains emotionally tied to the league that was an easel for his artistry. He has a helping heart, but that alone cannot force millionaire athletes to think beyond the court to become millionaire businessmen.

“It’s unfortunate that a lot of guys don’t want to listen,” said Johnson, the featured speaker at yesterday’s opening session of the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, hosted by Nationwide Insurance at the Columbus Convention Center.

If they would just listen, they would learn. Johnson, 53, followed his Hall of Fame career by becoming one of the most successful black business owners in America. After retiring from basketball in 1992, he went against conventional — white — business thinking by opening a chain of successful movie theaters and Starbucks in minority-dominant urban areas. Today, he oversees Magic Johnson Enterprises, which includes dozens of highly profitable companies, and he owns part of the baseball Los Angeles Dodgers.

But the phone does not ring often enough.

“We’re not getting those calls,” he said, sounding disappointed that few NBA players, past or present, seek his expertise.

Undaunted, Johnson teaches business strategy, hoping athletes will be smart enough to take it in. Some do. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal have sought him out.

Magic’s essential bits of counsel can be hard to swallow for athletes who live by the financial philosophy of “see it, buy it.”

“You have to be very disciplined,” he said. “Most guys, unfortunately, spend more than they make.”

Johnson did not. He learned early on, by paying attention to his mentors in his hometown of Lansing, Mich., and later at Michigan State, that the best way to manage money is to make more of it. To accomplish that meant meshing NBA and MBA experience.

“Don’t be afraid to (admit) what you don’t know,” he said, stressing the need to seek business experts for guidance. “A lot of times we think that because we’re athletes, we know everything. We don’t. For me, my eyes and ears were always open. I gravitate to information. I wanted it because I wanted to get better.”

Some of what Johnson teaches touches on safe topics such as giving back to your community.

“Where your base is, come back and invest and become part of the community,” he said, sharing that he watched an NBA game at Eddie George’s restaurant near Ohio State’s campus on Tuesday night because he wanted to support George, the former Buckeyes tailback who has invested in Columbus.

But some of Johnson’s business counsel goes against the grain of what his audience expects to hear.

“Do not hire your family if they don’t have expertise,” he said, stressing that relying on unqualified family members to manage operations tends to be a downfall of the black business community.

Johnson’s business mantra is to “overdeliver” at all times. His message is inspirational and educational.